{"id":45633,"date":"2021-06-16T05:23:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T05:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45633"},"modified":"2021-06-16T05:23:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T05:23:49","slug":"israel-gaza-violence-erupts-for-first-time-since-end-of-last-months-fighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45633","title":{"rendered":"Israel-Gaza violence erupts for first time since end of last month\u2019s fighting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nBEIRUT: Lebanon has been running short of infant baby formula for months as the country has been dealing with a severe economic crisis. A video showing the disposal of 20 tons of the baby milk substitute has been circulating on social media and has only added to the public\u2019s frustrations.
The Discriminatory Public Prosecution has commissioned the information department from the Internal Security Forces (ISF) to investigate as infant baby formula \u2014 which is supposed to be subsidized \u2014 has been missing from shops and pharmacies for weeks.
\u201cThere is a kind of social solidarity and government policy to control prices in the time of crises in the world, however, when there is a shortage of infant formula in the Lebanese market, it is not permitted to see it destroyed in front of our very own eyes,\u201d activist Mahmoud Fakih told Arab News.
\u201cWhy did the state not prosecute the traders who monopolized and hid this milk? It seems that people are the last thing on the mind of traders who insist on continuing to make profits in dollars.\u201d
The infant milk formula shortage is just one part of a food security problem brought on by economic collapse and worsened by Lebanon\u2019s reliance on imports for basic necessities. Staggering inflation has impeded imports and slashed purchasing power.
The video surfaced on social media after Hani Bohsali, president of the Syndicate of Importers of Foodstuffs, Consumer Products, and Drinks, said \u201csubsidies have been lifted on infant formula for ages one to three years old.\u201d
The Lebanese government is avoiding lifting subsidies on items, fearing the resentful reactions and leaving the matter into the hands of the Banque Du Liban (BDL), which settles for the cessation of payments to importers on the basis of a lack of funds in dollars.
In defense of the infant baby formula disposal, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) said: \u201cIt was requested to destroy these items in 2019 and 2020 in waste treatment facilities run by the CDR, in preparation for burying the waste in the sanitary landfill. This procedure is adopted for all the goods required to be damaged by their owners or by the competent official authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nHIGH<\/span>LIGHT<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nInternal Security Forces (ISF) were to investigate as baby formula has been missing from shops and pharmacies for weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\nThe company responsible for distributing food items in Lebanon said in a statement: \u201cThese expired products were withdrawn from the market three months before their expiry date in order to be disposed of and were in compliance with the protocols and expiry dates. Most of these products date back to 2018, 2019, and early 2020, and the process to obtain an agreement to destroy them required more than a year because of the total lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.\u201d
Bohsali pointed his finger at the BDL.
\u201cThe files of the infant formula for ages one to three years old, which is included in the subsidized items, have been withdrawn from BDL,\u201d he said.
\u201cThe goods will be delivered to the markets at an unsubsidized rate. As for the price of milk for ages below one year old, it is subsidized, similarly to medicine, and traders cannot set its price.\u201d
Lebanese President Michel Aoun weighed in and called on the relevant agencies and departments to \u201cstrictly pursue monopolists and exploiters of the current circumstances who increase the prices and make illegal profits.\u201d
According to his media office, Aoun added that \u201cprocedures were taken to address the fuel, medicine, medical supplies, and infant formula\u2019s crisis.\u201d
A joint report issued by the International Labour Organization and UNICEF in May warned that \u201ccanceling the only remaining form of social support funded by the Lebanese state will lead to a significant deterioration in the living standards of the poor and the middle class, if no comprehensive, sufficient and permanent social protection guarantees are implemented.\u201d
In a previous statement, UNICEF warned: \u201cthe poorest families might face levels of deprivation we have not witnessed for many years.\u201d
It is a critical time for the most vulnerable Lebanese citizens, said UNICEF Lebanon Representative Yukie Mokuo.
\u201cIf gaps are not quickly filled through strong long-term social assistance programs and at a time when most Lebanese face very difficult circumstances, those who are suffering from specific vulnerabilities will be simply left without support,\u201d she said.
According to the video on social media, the infant baby formula disposal took place Tuesday morning. It provided even more ammunition for civil-society organizations, which held a protest march through the heart of Beirut on Tuesday afternoon.
The General Labor Union is scheduled to go on strike on Thursday to demand the formation of a new government. More labor unions continue to announce plans of joining the strike, including a syndicate of bank employees.
While waiting for a new government to rescue the country, there has been a renewed scene of cars queuing up near gas stations. Aggressive confrontations have occurred between drivers waiting in lines and desperate for gas.
Georges Fayyad, who heads the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies in Lebanon, expects the price of gasoline to increase if subsidies are completely lifted.
\u201cFuel-importing companies distributed millions of gasoline in the market on Monday and Tuesday, however, this is a temporary solution that will only last for 15 days,\u201d Fayyad said.
\u201cThe decision to lift subsidies is not controlled by BDL, which clearly stated that it does not have any money. The decision should be made by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: Lebanon has been running short of infant baby formula for months as the country has been dealing with a severe economic crisis. A video showing the disposal of 20 tons of the baby milk substitute has been circulating on social media and has only added to the public\u2019s frustrations.The Discriminatory Public Prosecution has commissioned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}